I absolutely agree! I saw pics on a twins forum once of boys who seriously could have been put through a copy machine. The mom insisted they were fraternal b/c they were di/di & her dr said they were fraternal...

i think testing should be mandatory for same sex twins that share a blood type (unless there is a clear indicator they are identical). There are health issues that can arise that make it important to know.

My twin and I are obviously fraternal. If I had same sex twins, I would assume they were fraternal, because it runs in our family on my Mom's side. I probably wouldn't test. Twins are twins. Although, I always thought it would be cool if my twin and I looked more alike.

It is crazy how many people don't truly know if their twins are identical or fraternal. They just go by what their doctors say and a lot of times the doctor is incorrect!

So true!! I find I often know more about it than the drs. do. My SIL and BIL had triplets. She had IVF with 4 transferred embryos. I saw the early u/s, which is the best for determining separate sacs and such. I knew they were all 3 frats. It was obvious in the early u/s's. Her Perinatologist (sp??) insisted the 2 girls were ID. He said they were in the same sac. Nope!! No way. One is blond and fair, the other has dark hair and skin. Oh, and they weren't in the same sac either. Their separate placentas had fused, but they each had their own and were in their own sacs. My BIL is a dr. You would think he would know or research it and find out (since he isn't an OB). And you would have thought the peri would have checked the early u/s to see for sure if he thought they were in the same sac. Outside of them first mentioning it when they were born (because of questions), it's never been mentioned again. I think they feel silly, especially around me since I never believed they were ID's and even though I didn't mention it much, they knew that. I was always careful to make sure I didn't say too much about what I thought. I didn't want to be the one feeling silly when they were born.

Anyway, I am surprised at how few people test. If they were same gender and looked even remotely similar, I would test mine. A boyfriend I had in highschool had ID twin sisters. They didn't look much alike at all. Because of some birth trauma, which really wasn't a big deal, they had different shaped faces, but were definitely ID. Most people thought they were frats. Then, there is the Olson twins who most think are ID, but they are frats. I couldn't stand not knowing.

__________________

Heather SAHM to 6 who are 7 and under, including 2 sets of twins and our last little miracle, a surviving identical twin, born Oct 2012!

I think that mine are Id because they shared a placenta, (I did get the pathology report on it and it said it was only one but it could have been fused) we haven't had them tested yet. I asked one of my dr's when I was preg. if the hosp. would be doing the testing when they were born and he said no.. just look at them.. they do look a lot alike but I also think they look so different, and I see other IDs that look so much alike it makes me wonder..I do want to get them tested just haven't had the extra $$. I think it is funny when people whos twins are obviosly ID say that they are frat just because they were in seperate sacs/placentas..do people not do any research